System and method for optimizing a communication session between multiple terminals involving transcoding operations

Abstract

System and method for optimizing a transcoding session between multiple terminals are disclosed. The method determines properties of the transcoding session, including a number of terminals participating in the transcoding session, media characteristics supported by each terminal, a measure of performance of the transcoding session to be optimized, and optionally a proportion of time involved in the transcoding session for each terminal. Then a cost function characterizing the measure of performance of the transcoding session and depending on the above properties of the transcoding session is built, followed by optimizing the cost function with respect to said measure of performance to determine an optimal measure of performance for the transcoding session and optimal values for the media characteristics for each terminal. In one embodiment, codecs used by multiple terminals and computational complexity of the transcoding session are optimized. A corresponding system for optimizing the transcoding session is also provided.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14 / 019,409 filed on Sep. 5, 2013, which is now issued as a U.S. Pat. No. 9,356,987 on May 31, 2016, which in turn claims benefit from the U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61 / 711,701 filed on Oct. 9, 2012, entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to transcoding media files or streams, and in particular, to a system and method for optimizing a communication session between two or more terminals involving transcoding operations.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In communication sessions involving multiple users / parties / terminals, transcoding is often required to enable interoperability between terminals, for example terminals equipped with incompatible audiovisual codecs and therefore having incompatible characteristics. Transcoding operations between multiple terminals may be also required for other reasons ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a way to optimize a cost function based on a measure of performance. This can be done by minimizing the cost function or maximizing it, depending on the desired outcome. The technical effect of this approach is to provide a more efficient and effective means for achieving the desired performance levels while minimizing costs associated with the process.

Problems solved by technology

However, transcoding operations require significant computational complexity, bandwidth usage, energy usage and other resources, leading to high-energy consumption, ineffective utilization of hardware equipment, and resulting in high cost of such communication sessions.

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